Nagoya University guarantees freedom of academic research (学問の自由) and aspires to be an accessible University ((開かれた大学).

Question 1: Can we foster a “brave heart” by education? (勇気は教育で生み出すことができるものか？)

Inspired by Nelson Mandela: courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over fear, conquering fear. Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world. （私は学んだ。勇気とは恐怖を知らない事ではなく、それに打ち勝つところにあるのだと。勇者とは怖れを知らない人間ではなく、怖れを克服する人間の事なのだと。）

We want to educate courageous individuals endowed with powers of rational thought and creativity. (論理的思考力と創造力に富んだ勇気ある知識人）

Question 2: Can we foster “innovative talent” by education? (イノベーティブな才能は教育で生み出すことができるものか？)

When we look at the age at which Nobel Prize winners have done their prize winning work, we see a broad distribution, with a peak around 35-39 years age, with outliers in the 20-24 years age group, and above 60 as well.

Mentors are important: at Nagoya University Nobel Prize Winner Osamu Akasaki has educated and influenced five more Nobel Prize Winners.

Question 3: Is there any culture (soil) that makes innovative talent to blossom out? (イノベーティブな才能を開花させる文化（土壌）は存在すか？)

Frans Johansson examined the “Medici Effect”, the explosion of creativity during the Italian Renaissance period: innovative ideas flourished at the intersection of diverse experiences.

Gender inequality in Japan: a case report of women doctors

Kyoko Nomura, MD, MPH, PhD

keynote talk given at the 8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum at the Embassy of Austria, Tokyo, Thursday 18 February 2016

Kyoko Nomura: Director, Support Center for women physicians and researchers, Associate professor, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University, School of Medicine, Associate professor, Teikyo School of Public Health

by: Kyoko Nomura, MD, MPH, PhD: Director, Support Center for women physicians and researchers, Associate professor, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University, School of Medicine, and Associate professor, Teikyo School of Public Health

In 2016, Japan’s elderly population, aged 65 years or older, comprises 26%, which is one-fourth of total population. By contrast, the younger generation, aged 0-14 years, comprises only 14%. Why so low?

Nowadays, the birth rate in Japan is estimated at 10.3 per 1,000 population, meaning that one woman bears only one child over her lifetime on average. The Japanese Health Ministry estimates that the nation’s total population will fall to 95.2 million by 2050. The aging of Japan is brought about by a combination of low birthrate and longevity.

Now we understand that Japan faces an aging society. Who is going to take care of this quickly growing aging population? Of course, younger people and women! This is the fundamental reason why women are encouraged to work as much as men to support the aging society.

However in Japan, our traditional gender roles that men should work outside and women be good house wives is strongly embedded in our mindset and hard to get rid of.

According to the Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum, Japan ranks at 105th near the bottom among 135 countries in terms of gender equality, mainly due to the underrepresentation of women in economic and political leadership.

In the medical area, Japan faces a physician shortage because the number of physicians per 1000 population is 2.2 which is lower than the average of OECD countries, 3.2 per 1000 population. This means, if you reside in a remote area and suppose you have a cancer, it is less likely to find a medical doctor who can treat your cancer in your neighborhood. Hence, Japan needs higher numbers of medical doctors to meet patients’ needs and definitely women medical doctors are expected to work more to take care of patients.

Actually the number of women entering into medicine is increasing and now constitutes 20% of total number of medical doctors. But this value is still low among OECD countries (actually it is lowest) and thus, we need to set up an urgent strategy to improve working conditions for women to work as much as male counterparts and pursue their potentials as well.

Dr. Nomura conducted a surveys of alumnae from 14 medical schools and found that 98% of men worked in full-time positions, but only 70% of women worked in full time positions, and that men work longer hours per week compared to women. In her another survey with colleagues, they also found that many women quit working at the time of life events like marriage and child birth or rearing; the retirement rate from full-time labour was 44％ in 5 yrs and rose up to 85％ in 10 yrs. To make matters worse, once they switched from full-time to part-time positions, only one third of these people will return to full-time work.

As a consequence, women are underrepresented in medicine. We have 80 medical schools in Japan and each has one dean but there are only 2 women and women constitute only 2.6% of full professors in medicine in Japan, which is far behind of USA (19%) and UK (16%).

Dr. Nomura and her colleagues have recently published an article to the international scientific journal “Surgery” in February 2016 and this epidemiological study based on 8,000 surgeons who are members of the Japan Surgical Society demonstrated that married men earn more than unmarried women after adjusting for covariates including working hours; as the number of children increases, annual income increases only for men but decreases for women.

In another study, she also demonstrated that the length of weekly domestic working hours is much longer for unmarried women than for married men and men do not work at home even if they have children (the average household working hours for men is only 3 hours per week).

These findings suggest that Japan’s stereotypical gender role, where men should work outside and women should be housewives still prevails even among highly qualified professionals like medical doctors.

Dr. Nomura has launched a women support center at her University in 2014 and provides various kinds of support to women researchers and physicians including

to provide a nursery for children including sick children

to provide social support like mentorship

to provide various seminars and workshops on research skills

to promote gender equality campaigns

With these efforts, Teikyo University has successfully increased the numbers and percentages of women faculty members. Dr. Nomura concluded by saying “in order to support women, environmental support at the workplace is not enough, but a combination of workplace support with educational intervention and career development works very well.”

Kyoko Nomura: Director, Support Center for women physicians and researchers, Associate professor, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University, School of Medicine, Associate professor, Teikyo School of Public HealthGerhard Fasol, Kyoko Nomura: Director, Support Center for women physicians and researchers, Associate professor, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University, School of Medicine, Associate professor, Teikyo School of Public Health, Eiji Yano, MD, MPH, DMSc, Emeritus Professor Teikyo University (from left to right)8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum, Embassy of Austria in Tokyo, 18 March 20168th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum, Tokyo 18 February 2016

Kyoko Nomura, Teikyo University, Profile

Education:

MD, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, April 1987-March 1993

Master of Public Health: Quantitative Methods, Harvard School of Public Health, MA02115, USA, June 2001-June 2002

PhD: Dep. of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University School of Medicine , April 1999-March 2003

Current position:

Associate professor of Dep. of Hygiene and Public Health and Teikyo University School of Medicine, and Teikyo School of Public Health

Director of Teikyo Support Center for women physicians and researchers

Makoto Suematsu

keynote talk given at the 8th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum at the Embassy of Austria in Tokyo, Tuesday 18 February 2016

Makoto Suematsu, President, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development AMED: “The situation in Japan is so crazy, but now I will stay in Japan because I have a mission”

Makoto Suematsu boltzmann.com

by Makoto Suematsu (President, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development AMED)

summary written by Gerhard Fasol

Our goal is to fast-track medical R&D that directly benefits people not only by extending life, but also by improving quality of life.

Supporting research in “three different concepts of life”:

life sciences

daily life

quality of life

AMED works with three Japanese Government Ministries: METI & MEXT & MHLW

AMED total budget in FY2015 is US$ 1.4 billion.

The challenge is to combine the efforts of these three Ministries which all have different rules and requirements. It is our job at AMED to overcome this “balkanization” between Ministries, as pointed out by Denis Normile’s article: “Japan’s ‘NIH’ starts with modest funding but high ambitions”, SCIENCE, 348, Issue 6235, pp 616, DOI: 10.1126/science.348.6235.616

Starting with (1) rare diseases and (2) cancer

We are using a matrix approach and start with (1) rare diseases and (2) cancer to trial our approach to optimize medical R&D.

On one axis of the matrix we have:

Drug research

Regenerative medicine research

Cancer research

Neurological, psychiatric and brain research

Rare/intractable disease research

Emerging research

On the other axis of the matrix we have:

Industrial-academic collaboration: support for practical applications such as industrial-academic collaboration

International affairs: promotion of strategic international research

Genome research and infrastructure: support for accommodating R&D platforms such as BioBank etc

Clinical research and trials: support for high-quality clinical studies/clinical trials

Innovative drug discovery and development: support through the Drug Discovery Support Network for realizing drug discovery in academia

Why did we start from Rare & Undiagnosed Diseases (IRUD) in 2015?

Our aim is to support medical research considering three different types of life

SWAN = Syndrome without a name, leading to a diagnostic odyssey

“You have no idea what the future holds for a child. If you don’t have a diagnosis, you don’t know if they’ll ever walk, or talk, or what their life expectancy might be. You spend your whole life going through this constant emotional rollercoaster of test after test coming back negative and no-one being able to give you any answers. They can have their entire genetic code sequenced, but we still can’t find the root of the problem. It’s mainly because it’s such a tiny change in their genetic code that doesn’t get picked up in the tests.”

AMED has launched the Initiative for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (IRUD)

We set up IRUD committees at all hub medical institutions building an all-Japan network for IRUD. These IRUD committees build regional alliances bringing together home doctors, IRUD analysis centers for genetic testing, e.g. exome sequencing.

The IRUD committees interact with the IRUD Data Base System for IRUD.

With regional IRUD committees in combination with a central IRUD data base, we can find patients with similar symptoms which might have the same rare disease.

In order to identify a new disease-causing gene which has been unknown as a disease-causing gene, it is necessary to find out multiple patients who have a combination of similar clinical phenotypes and sequence variants in same gene

To decide on Rare (R) and Undiagnosed (U) diseases, we use a series of filters, including global research on multifactorial genetic disorders, and we use IRUD diagnostic committees including a wide range of specialists, clinical conferences with clinical geneticists, and alliances with home doctors.

As an example, it was possible to identify patients with corresponding rare genetic diseases both in the USA and Japan.

AMED: Perspectives for fast-track medical R&D to improve global quality of life

Eliminate obstacles of inflexible funding systems caused by “Balkanism” (conflicts of different funding systems by different agencies). AMED has completed de reform of funding rules on January 13, 2016

Chuck Casto Licensed Nuclear Power Station Operator. Was NRC regulator responsible for 23 nuclear power stations. Leader of the US Integrated Government and NRC efforts in Japan during the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. [summary and discussions]

Hiroyuki Yoshikawa Pioneer of robotics and precision manufacturing. Emeritus President of the University of Tokyo. Japan Prize 1997. [summary and discussions]

Why Shuji Nakamura’s Nobel Prize is “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources” and not for “development of mass production technology of blue LEDs”

In an interview for the Japanese Mainichi-Shinbun, the Chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee in Physics, Professor Per Delsing summarized the key discoveries of each Nobel Laureate from the point of view of the Nobel Prize Committee in Physics:

Isamu Akasaki: High quality GaN with AlN buffer

Hiroshi Amano: Demonstration of GaN pn junction

Shuji Nakamura: Many contributions to achieve a practical level of high efficient blue LEDs

The discovery of blue GaN LEDs is a discovery in the field of Physics achieved by three people, their contributions are:

Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano

AlN buffer (to grow AlN of sufficient quality on a substrate of a different material)

p-GaN by electron beam irradiation

realization of GaN pn junction

Shuji Nakamura

GaN buffer (to grow GaN of sufficient quality on a substrate of a different material)

p-GaN by thermal annealing and the theoretical clarification of the mechanism for p-type conductivity

the invention of InGaN-based high brightness double-heterostructure blue LEDs (the Nobel Prize was given to the invention of this LED)

Nobel Prizes are not awarded for the development of “mass manufacturing technologies”…

Alfred Nobel’s will reads:

“The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics;…”

It is perfectly clear in Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Prize Committee awards Nobel Prizes in Physics for “the most important discoveries or inventions within the field of physics” – not for the development of manufacturing technologies.

Shuji Nakamura explained these facts on numerous occasions to Japanese media, and also today at the 7th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum. It is difficult to understand why Japanese media and Government organizations did not take this information in.

It is a mystery why Japan’s National Television NHK, several Japanese major newspapers, The Journal of the Japanese Society of Applied Physics, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan’s Science Technology Agency JST and several other Japanese organizations insist that the Nobel Prize should have been awarded as follows:

Professors Akasaki and Amano for the development of the blue LED

Professor Nakamura for the development of manufacturing technology – although it is clear that the Nobel Prize is only awarded for profound discoveries and inventions in the field of physics and not for the development of manufacturing technologies

Clearly there is a disconnect between these major Japanese media organizations, two major Japanese Government Research Organizations NEDO and JST and reality regarding the reason why Shuji Nakamura was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014.

p-type GaN and InGaN was demonstrated by Akasaki and Amano with electron beam annealing, and the real breakthrough was by Shuji Nakamura by annealing in Nitrogen gas.

On October 20, 1993, the Japanese Journal Nikkan Kogyo announced that “MIS type blue LEDs with a brightness of 200mCd were developed by Toyoda Gosei Co Ltd through industry-University cooperation funded by Japan’s Science and Technology Agency (JST). However, both the MIS LEDs demonstrated by Maruska et al in 1973, and those introduced by Toyoda Gosei in 1993 were too weak for real applications.

Another intermediate step in development are p-n junction LEDs, without double heterostructure. Such LEDs also have relatively low light efficiency, since electrons and holes have small overlap and therefore low recombination probability. The quantum confinement of electrons and holes in the same location in space is necessary to achieve high recombination efficiency and thus high brightness.

For high brightness GaN LEDs it was necessary to develop viable n-type / p-type InGaN heterostructure LEDs. This was done by Shuji Nakamura, and for example announced by the Japanese Journal Nikkei Sangyo on November 1993: “p-n junction InGaN double heterostructure (DH) LEDs with a brightness of more then 1000 mCd were developed by Nichia Chemical Industries Ltd”, when Shuji Nakamura was at Nichia from 1979-1999. It is for the invention and development of these LEDs that Shuji Nakamura was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Energy savings impact – for the USA alone:

Approx. 40% electricity savings (261 TeraWatthours) in USA in 2030 due to LEDs.
InGaN LEDs eliminate the need for 30++ 1000MW power plants by 2030.
InGaN LEDs avoid generating about 185 million tons of CO2.

Light efficiency:

oil lamp (15,000BC): 0.1 lm/W

light bulb (19th century): 16 lm/W

fluorescent lamp (20th century): 70 lm/W

LED (21st century): 300 lm/W

2. Material of choice: ZnSe vs GaN

Both ZnSe (II-VI compounds) and GaN (III-V compounds) have the electronic band gap and other properties to efficiently generate blue light. In 1989 the situation was:

ZnSe can be grown on GaAs substrates with 0% lattice mismatch and few dislocations.

high crystal quality: dislocation density < 1 x 10^3 cm^-2

very active research in 1989: > 99% of researchers on blue LEDs

interest at 1992 JSAP Conference: 500 people audience

GaN grown on Sapphire (Al2O3) has a 16% lattice mismatch leading to a high defect (dislocation) density.

Poor crystal quality: dislocation density > 1 x 10^9 cm^-2

little research in 1989: < 1% of researchers on blue LEDs

interest at 1992 JSAP Conference: < 10 people audience

GaN research was actively discouraged: “GaN has no future”, “GaN people have to move to ZnSe material”….

1989 was the starting point of Shuji Nakamura’s research. Based on his experience at University of Miami, Shuji Nakamura wanted to achieve a PhD degree by writing research papers. The GaN field had the advantage that there were very few researchers and papers, so it was a great topic to publish lots of papers! Working at a small company the budget was small, and there was only one researcher: Shuji Nakamura.

It was commonly accepted in the 19970s-1980s, that LEDs need dislocation density < 1 x 10^3 cm^-2.
Shuji Nakamura never thought at that time that he could invent blue LEDs using GaN….

Previously all researchers used an atmosphere containing H+ to anneal p-type GaN, which was passivated by this process. Shuji Nakamura discovered that it was necessary to anneal in a H+ free atmosphere to achieve p-type GaN.

From p-n GaN homojunctions to InGaN double heterostructures (DH)

Akasaki and Amano developed p-n GaN homojunctions. These have good crystal quality, but very dim light emission, are very inefficient, power output is below mW, and the emission is around 360nm in the Ultra-Violet (UV). These structures are not suitable for practical LEDs.

Double heterostructures (DH) create a quantum well, were electrons and holes are confined, high carrier concentrations are achieved and the radiative recombination rates are enhanced.

4. Enabling the LED: InGaN

GaN heterojunctions are constructed by growing a sandwich structure consisting of n-GaN, InGaN, p-GaN. The band gap / color is adjusted by adjusting the Indium concentration in InxGa1-xN alloy. However this presents difficult challenges:

It is hard to incorporate Indium, because of its high vapor pressure, Indium tends to boil off. Growth at lower temperatures to prevent Indium boil-off results in poor crystal quality

It is necessary to grow very thin layers to build quantum wells. Growing very thin layers requires very fine control over the growth conditions and high interface quality.

Indium introduces strain in the crystal because Indium is about 20% bigger than Gallium.

Because of these difficulties, research in the 1970s-1980s could not achieve InGaN of sufficiently high quality for room temperature band-to-band emission.

5. Historical perspective

While red GaAs/GaAsP LEDs where invented in the 1970s, progress in luminous efficiency of GaN and InGaN based green and blue LEDs, invented around 1992-1993 by Shuji Nakamura, is much faster. Today white LEDs far exceed light bulbs and fluorescent lamps in luminous efficiency.

USC’s vision: LED based white light is great, laser based white light is even better!

Boltzmann constant k, the definition of the unit of temperature and energy

Temperature is one of the physics quantities we use most, and understanding all aspects of temperature is at the core of Ludwig Boltzmann’s work. People measured temperature long before anyone knew what temperature really is: temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the atoms of a substance. When we touch a body to “feel” its temperature, what we are really doing is to measure the “buzz”, the thermal vibrations of the atoms making up that body.

Boltzmann worked out the distribution of energy, thermal vibrations of atoms in a solid, thermal kinetic energy of atoms or molecules in a gas, or the thermal energy in more complex classical systems is distributed as a function of temperature in the case of equilibrium. Boltzmann has also worked on systems in transition, and has developed powerful mathematical tools, the Boltzmann Equations, to understand systems in transitions or flow.

For an ideal gas, the kinetic energy per molecule is equal to 3/2 k.T, where k is Boltzmann’s constant. Generalized, the energy is 1/2 k.T per degree of freedom. Therefore Boltzmann’s constant directly links energy and Temperature.

However, when we measure “Temperature” in real life, we are not really measuring the true thermodynamic temperature, what we are really measuring is T90, a temperature scale ITS-90 defined in 1990, which is anchored by the definition of temperature units in the System International, the SI system of defining a set of fundamental physical units. Our base units are of fundamental importance for example to transfer semiconductor production processes around the world. For example, when a semiconductor production process requires a temperature of 769.3 Kelvin or mass of 1.0000 Kilogram, then accurate definition and methods of measurement are necessary to achieve precisely the same temperature or mass in different laboratories or factories around the world.

The SI system of physical units is switching to a new fundament

Each fundamental constant Q is a product of a number {Q} and a base unit [Q]:

Q = {Q} x [Q],

for example Boltzmann’s constant is:
k = 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.

Thus we have two ways to define the SI system of SI base units:

we can fix the units [Q], and then measure the numerical values {Q} of fundamental constants in terms of these units (method valid today to define the SI system)

we can fix the numbers {Q} of fundamental constants, and then define the units [Q] thus that the fundamental constants have the numerical values {Q} (future method of defining the SI system)

Over the next few years the SI system of units will be switched from the today’s method (1.) where units are fixed and numerical values of fundamental constants are “variable”, i.e. determined experimentally, to the new method (2.) where the numerical values of the set of fundamental constants is fixed, and the units are defined such, that their definition results in the fixed numerical values of the set of fundamental constants. This switch to a new definition of the SI system requires international agreements, and decisions by international organizations, and this process is expected to be completed by 2018.

Today’s method (1.) above is problematic: The SI unit of temperature, Kelvin is defined as the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature at the triple point of water. The problem is that the triple point depends on many factors including pressure, and the precise composition of water, in terms of isotopes and impurities. In the current definition the water to be used is determined as “VSNOW” = Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water. Of course this is highly problematic, and the new method (2.) will not depend on VSNOW any longer.

In the new system (2.) the Kelvin will be defined as:

Kelvin is defined such, that the numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k is equal to exactly 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.

Measurement of the Boltzmann constant k:

In order to link the soon to be fixed numerical value of Boltzmann’s constant to currently valid definitions of the Kelvin, and in particular to determine the precision and errors, it is necessary to measure the value of Boltzmann’s current in terms of today’s units as accurately as possible, and also to understand and estimate all errors in the measurement. Several measurements of Boltzmann’s constants are being performed in laboratories around the world, particularly at several European and US laboratories. Arguably today’s best measurement has been performed by Dr Michael de Podesta MBE CPhys MInstP, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory NPL in Teddington, UK, who has kindly discussed his measurements and today’s status of the work on the system of SI units and its redefinition with me, and has greatly assisted in the preparation of this article. Dr Podesta’s measurements of Boltzmann’s constant have been published in:
Michael de Podesta et al. “A low-uncertainty measurement of the Boltzmann constant”, Metrologia 50 (2013) 354-376.

Dr Podesta’s measurements are extremely sophisticated, needed many years of work, and cooperations with several other laboratories. Dr. Podesta and collaborators constructed a highly precise resonant cavity filled with Argon gas. Dr. Podesta measured both the microwave resonance modes of the cavity to determine the precise radius and geometry, and determined the speed of sound in the Argon gas from acoustic resonance modes. Dr Podesta performed exceptionally accurate measurements of the speed of sound in this cavity, which can be said to be the most accurate thermometer globally today. The speed of sound can be directly related to 3/2 k.T, the mean molecular kinetic energy of the Argon molecules. In these measurements, Dr. Podesta very carefully considered many different types of influences on his measurements, such as surface gas layers, shape of microwave and acoustic sources and sensors etc. He achieved a relative standard uncertainty of 0.71. 10-6, which means that his measurements of Boltzmann’s constant are estimated to be accurate to within better than on millionth. Dr. Podesta’s measurements directly influences the precision with which we measure temperature in the new system of units.

Over the last 10 years there is intense effort in Europe and the USA to build rebuild the SI unit system. In particular NIST (USA), NPL (UK), several French institutions and Italian institutions, as well as the German PTB (Physikalische Technische Bundesanstalt) are undertaking this effort. To my knowledge there is only very small or no contribution from Japan to this effort, which was surprising for me.

Ludwig Boltzmann – the leader

Ludwig Boltzmann was not only a monumental scientist, but also an exceptional leader, teacher, educator and promoter of exceptional talent, and he promoted many women.

One of the women Ludwig Boltzmann promoted was Henriette von Aigentler, who was refused permission to unofficially audit lectures at Graz University. Ludwig Boltzmann advised and helped her to appeal this decision, in 1874, Henriette von Aigentler passed her exams as a high-school teacher, and on July 17, 1876, Ludwig Boltzmann married Henriette von Aigentler, my great-grand mother.

Another woman Ludwig Boltzmann promoted was his student Lise Meitner (Nov 1878 – Oct 27, 1968), who later was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission, work for which Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize. Lise Meitner was also the second woman to earn a Doctorate degree in Physics from the University of Vienna. Element 109, Meitnerium, is named after Lise Meitner.

Ludwig Boltzmann – the scientist

Ludwig Boltzmann’s greatest contribution to science is that he linked the macroscopic definition of Entropy which came from optimizing steam engines at the source of the first industrial revolution to the microscopic motion of atoms or molecules in gases, this achievement is summarized by the equation S = k log W, linking entropy S with the probability W. k is the Boltzmann constant, one of the most important constants in nature, linked directly to temperature in the SI system of physical units. This monumental work is maybe Boltzmann’s most important creation but by far not the only one. He discovered many laws, and created many mathematical tools, for example Boltzmann’s Equations, which are used today as tools for numerical simulations of gas flow for the construction of jet engines, airplanes, automobiles, in semiconductor physics, information technology and many other areas. Although independently discovered, Shannon’s theory of noise in communication networks, and Shannon’s entropy in IT is also directly related to Boltzmann’s entropy work.

Global leadership in the extreme: crisis leadership in post-Fukushima

Chuck Casto

keynote talk given at the 7th Ludwig Boltzmann Forum at the Embassy of Austria, Tokyo, 20 February 2015

Dr. Chuck Casto, Casto Group Consulting LLC, Licensed Nuclear Power Station Operator. Was NRC regulator responsible for 23 nuclear power stations. Leader of the US Integrated Government and NRC efforts in Japan during the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.

by: Dr. Chuck Casto, Casto Group Consulting LLC, Licensed Nuclear Power Station Operator. Was NRC regulator responsible for 23 nuclear power stations. Leader of the US Integrated Government and NRC efforts in Japan during the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.

Leadership in the Extreme

The earth is flat enhanced global leadership is needed. A nuclear accident in one country is a nuclear accident everywhere.

Japan – the Fukushima disaster revealed an imbalance of power and leadership:

systems failure

misalignment of values

actions are needed to realign values

Needed enhancements for extreme crisis leadership, not only developing countries, but also including 1st world, developed countries such as Japan.

The USA are very experienced in assisting 2nd and 3rd world, developing countries in times of disaster and the response is essentially standardized. However, the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear disaster was the first time, where the USA assisted a developed 1st world country in coping with a disaster.

The Fukushima Dai-Ichi disaster revealed the need to standardize our plans for domestic and international responses in times of disaster. We need to understand how nations define severe accident response, post-disaster recovery and preparations for extreme events.

Fukushima-Dai-Ichi was a system failure, a consequence of an imbalance of power and responsibility

Broken information flow

There was a lack of flow of information between government, utility and the public, and a lack of formal communication between the disaster site and the Government leadership – the disaster site was an isolated island.

Imbalance of power

This lack of sufficient information flow was compounded by imbalance of power and legal uncertainty. Several different laws and Government agencies applied, and there was confusion between Atomic Energy Basic Law, Emergency Laws, Basic Energy Plan, Industry Ministry (METI), Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), Self Defense Forces and other agencies.

There was confusion and conflicts over division of labor and responsibility, regarding venting of the reactors, injection of water and evacuation of local communities.

Imbalance of responsibility

There must be a clear legal basis for roles and responsibilities, which was not the case because of conflicts between different applicable laws (e.g. nuclear laws and emergency laws) and between different agencies and the utilities.

Ultimately the utilities (Tokyo Electrical Power Company TEPCO) must be responsible, however, the public and the government are reluctant to give the utilities the clear and sole responsibilty.

There is an uncertainty about “acceptable risk”. Risk management had been replaced by “Japan’s nuclear safety myth”, and preparations for nuclear accidents were not sufficient.

It is necessary to realign responsibility, accountability, power and achieve a balanced system

Japan needs to realign responsibility, accountability, power between:

Government / Diet (Japan’s Parliament)

Government agencies (MEXT, METI, NRA)

Extra-Governmental Organizations

Prefectural and local Government

Nuclear utilities

non-governmental organizations and the public

In particular, Government and Diet (Japan’s Parliament) need to exercise power, while the nuclear utilities must assume full responsibility and be fully accountable.

The nuclear regulator must be fully accountable to the Diet (Japan’s Parliament), and the Diet must assume the responsibility to supervise the nuclear regulator.

A public discussion on national level must determine which risk is acceptable, and the regulator must regulate to this acceptable risk, and be supervised by the Diet.

Questions and Answers

Question by Shuji Nakamura: what do you think is the best energy for Japan
Answer by Dr Chuck Casto: because of Japan’s earthquake and other risks, geo-thermal energy and wind might be the most suitable.

Question: are modern nuclear reactors safe?
Answer by Dr Chuck Casto: like modern cars, modern nuclear reactors are better engineered and generally safer than old designs from 30-40-50 years ago. If Japan could afford this, I would advise Japan to replace all old reactors with new modern reactors.

Question: are your worried about the safety of nuclear reactors in China and other countries?
Answer by Dr Chuck Casto: of course I am worried about the safety of nuclear reactors in China, in other developed and developing countries. I am also worried about the safety in our own country – the USA, because in the USA we have lost much needed basic skills such as welding. We need to keep our basic skill such as welding. France has an advantage in nuclear power, because in France all reactors use the same basic design. So improvements of this basic reactor type at one plant can be used to improve the safety at all other plants. In the USA, or in other countries we have many different reactor designs, so its much more difficult to manage the safety, and to bring improvements from one plant to others which might be differently designed reactors.

Charles A. Casto: “Crisis management: A qualitative study of extreme leadership“, (2014), Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 626. A Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration in the Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University

Part I: Robotless Robot (automatic assembly without robot)

For many engineering processes the interaction of geometrical shapes is important.

“Stable states” are states where for example triangles are placed with their sides in contact. As an example, if we consider two triangles, we have 9 stable states and 36 possible transitions.

Let us consider interactions between cylinders and holes in a plate – such as situation could arise in an industrial process. In this case we have metastable states, where the cylinders are upright, lying on their side, or placed oblique in one of the holes, and we have stable states, where the cylinders rest in on one of the holes.

We can consider an experiment where we have cylinders on a plate with several holes, and subject the plate to vibrations. Depending on the magnitude of vibrations, the cylinders will move around and may end up all placed in holes, which would be the finished product of this thought experiment.

The distribution of energy of cylinders at collisions between cylinders and the disc follows a Boltzmann Distribution.

Part II: Macroscopic Service Science (Servicentric human society)

Reconceptualization of manufacturing

Hypothesis: Service makes a society

The basic reason why human beings live together and work collectively or socially is that their mutual services are essential for their survival on earth. Humans cannot live alone.

Lemma: Manufacturing industry is part of the service industry.

In the service industry, a service donor (e.g. a server in a restaurant) manufactures a function and simultaneously delivers this as a service to a recipients (customer).

In the manufacturing industry, a donor manufactures functions which are embedded into products, which are delivered to recipients at a later time.

Basic structure of primitive service

Service design:

motivation

design

function

design

service

Product design:

motivation

design

function

design

product

use (service)

The flow of services can be seen as similar to flow in fluid dynamics: services flow from donor through a service pipe to recipients.

A donor’s motivation (subjective) is transformed into function (objective) at the first stage of service design. Function is input to themselves (donor) increasing the potential of latent function. When the potential exceeds the recipient’s potential of latent function, a service starts. Motivation is subjective, while function is objective (see: Social Theory and Social Structure by Robert K. Merton)

Replacing GDP by the total functional flow (services in a society) as an indicator for wealth of society

Motivation of a donor increases its latent function and when it exceeds the latent function of a recipient, function flow of service starts. Rate of flow is proportional to the functional gap, and admittance of the path.

A society is composed of people with different latent function of a kind. Each member has its capacity of receiving the function. As a result, the system of functional flow in the society is determined.

Services make a society.

From “manufacturing a product” to “manufacturing amplifiers on service network”

Our industrial society can be seen of the sum of a primitive service-only society PLUS manufacturing industries, resulting in amplified services.

As an example:

Primitive service: medical service at home e.g. mother-child

Amplified service: medical service at hospital by a highly trained doctor using medical equipment and know-how

Ceremony on the day of the 170th anniversary of Ludwig Boltzmann’s birthday

Commemorating Ludwig Boltzmann’s death on September 5, 1906

On the 170th Anniversary day of Ludwig Boltzmann’s birth, on February 20, 2014, a ceremony was held at the “Ples” Building (Duino no. 76), the building in which Boltzmann passed away on September 5, 1906, to unveil a commemorative plate.

Unveiling the plate to commemorate Ludwig Boltzmann

Unveiling of a commemorative plate in memory of Ludwig Boltzmann (photograph by courtesy of Dieter Fasol)

Gerhard Fasol: today’s agenda

Today we celebrate Ludwig Boltzmann’s 170th birthday: Ludwig Boltzmann was born on February 20, 1844. Even though his work is quite some time ago, every Japanese engineer or scientist uses Ludwig Boltzmann’s results, laws, and the mathematical and scientific tools he developed every day.

Ludwig Boltzmann’s work is extremely relevant every day in all our lives.

In my talk I will also explain that Boltzmann’s constant k is is directly linked to the unit we use to measure “temperature”. We use temperature everyday in private life, medicine and work, however people measured temperature before it was understood, what temperature really is. Boltzmann’s work and Ludwig Boltzmann’s results are needed to understand what we are actually measuring when we measure temperature. In most cases today we use the system of “SI Units” to measure physical quantities such as weight, time, temperature, pressure, current, voltage, power etc. There is global effort currently to reform the system of SI Units, and put their definition on a modern and more rational basis. Boltzmann’s constant k is at the core of the system of SI Units, and therefore there are efforts proceeding in several laboratories to measure Boltzmann’s constant as accurately as possible. I’ll explain some of this results in my talk.

Boltzmann was not only one of the most important and productive physicists, he was also a great leader, he influenced many, until today. Inspired by Ludwig Boltzmann as a leader, I have created the Ludwig Boltzmann Symposia for the following purpose and principles:

enable and encourage change

platform for creative leaders

free discussion, freedom of speech

no dogmas

Ryoji Noyori recently wrote and excellent article in The Yumiuri Shinbun (which is one of the daily newspapers with the highest circulation globally) entitled: “Can Japan’s science and technology compete globally?”
I have worked in Austria, Germany, France, UK, Japan, and all over the EU, and every country asks this question about their own country.
Ludwig Boltzmann competed successfully and globally, visited and taught in the US three times, studied English, he still has huge global impact today. We can learn from him how to compete globally.

Kenichi Iga: vs – Optoelectronics and Energy

(Former President and Emeritus Professor of Tokyo Institute of Technology. Inventor of VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting lasers), widely used in photonics systems)

My invention of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) dates back to March 22, 1977. Today VCSEL devices are used in many applications all over the world. I was awarded the 2013 Franklin Institute Award, the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science, “for the conception and development of the vertical cavity surface emitting laser and its multiple applications in optoelectronics“. Benjamin Franklin’s work is linked to mine: Benjamin Franklin in 1752 discovered that thunder originates from electricity – he linked electronics (electricity) with photons (light). After 1960 the era of lasers began, we learnt how to combine and control electrons and photons, and the era of optoelectronics.

If you read Japanese, you may be interested to read an interview with Genichi Hatakoshi and myself, intitled “The treasure micro box of optoelectronics” which was recently published in the Japanese journal OplusE Magazine by Adcom-Media.

Who are electrons? Electrons are just like a cloud expressed by Schroedinger’s equation, which Schroedinger postulated in 1926. Electrons can also be seen as randomly moving particles, described by the particle version of Schroedinger’s equation (1931).

Where does light come from? Light is generated by the accelerated motion of charged particles.

Electrons also show interference patterns. For example, if we combine the 1s and 2p orbitals around a nucleus, we observe interference.

In a semiconductor, electrons are characterized by a band structure, filled valence bands and largely empty conduction bands. The population of hole states in the valence bands and of electrons in the conduction bands are determined by the Fermi-Dirac distribution. In typical III-V semiconductors, generation and absorption of light is by transitions between 4s anti-bonding orbitals (the bottom of the conduction band) and 4p bonding orbitals (the top of the valence band).

In Japan, we are good at inventing new types of vertical structures:

in 607, the Horyuji 5-Jyu-no Toh (5 story tower) was built in Nara, and today we have progressed to building the 634 meter high Tokyo Sky Tree Tower.

in 1893, Kubota Co. Ltd. developed the vertical molding of water pipes

History of communications spans from 10,000 years BC with the invention of language, and 3000 BC with the invention of written characters and papyrus, to the invention of the internet in 1957, the realization of the laser in 1960, the realization of optical fiber communications in 1984, and now since 2008 we see Web 2.x and Cloud.

Optical telegraphy goes back to 200 BC, when optical beacons were used in China: digital signals using multi-color smoke. Around 600 AD we had optical beacons in China, Korea and Japan, and in 1200 BC also in Mongolia and India.
In the 18th and 19th century, optical semaphores were used in France.

In the 20th century, optical beam transmission using optical rods and optical fiber transmissions were developed, which combined with the development of lasers created today’s laser communications. Yasuharu Suematsu and his student showed the world’s first demonstration of optical fiber communications demonstration on May 26, 1963 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, using a He-Ne laser, an electro-optic crystal for modulation of the laser light by the electrical signal from a microphone, and optical bundle fiber, and a photo-tube at the other end of the optical fiber bundle to revert the optical signals back into electrical signals and finally to drive a loud speaker. For his pioneering work, Yasuharu Suematsu was awarded the International Japan Prize in 2014.

I recorded my initial idea for the surface emitting laser on March 22, 1977 in my lab book.

As an example, the Tsubame-2 supercomputer, which in November 2011 was 5th of top-500 supercomputers, and on June 2, 2011 was greenest computer of Green500, uses 3500 optical fiber interconnects with a length of 100km. In 2012: Too500/Green500/Graph500

Gerhard Fasol: Boltzmann’s constant, “What is temperature?” and the new definition of the SI system of physical units

(in preparing this talk, I am very grateful for several email discussions and telephone conversations, and for unpublished presentations and documents, to Dr Michael de Podesta MBE CPhys MInstP, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory NPL in Teddington, UK, who has greatly assisted me in understanding the current status of work on reforming the SI system of units, and also his very important work on high-precision measurements of Boltzmann’s constant. Dr Michael de Podesta’s measurements of Boltzmann’s constant are arguable among the most precise, of not the most precise measurements of Boltzmann’s constant today, and therefore a very important contribution to our system of physical units).

Temperature is one of the physics quantities we use most, and understanding all aspects of temperature is at the core of Ludwig Boltzmann’s work. People measured temperature long before anyone knew what temperature really is: temperature is a measurement of the average kinetic energy of the atoms of a substance. When we touch a body to “feel” its temperature, what we are really doing is to measure the “buzz”, the thermal vibrations of the atoms making up that body.

For an ideal gas, the kinetic energy per molecule is equal to 3/2 k.T, where k is Boltzmann’s constant. Therefore Boltzmann’s constant directly links energy and Temperature.

However, when we measure “Temperature” in real life, we are not really measuring the true thermodynamic temperature, what we are really measuring is T90, a temperature scale ITS-90 defined in 1990, which is anchored by the definition of temperature units in the System International, the SI system of defining a set of fundamental physical units. Our base units are of fundamental importance for example to transfer semiconductor production processes around the world. For example, when a semiconductor production process requires a temperature of 769.3 Kelvin or mass of 1.0000 Kilogram, then accurate definition and methods of measurement are necessary to achieve precisely the same temperature or mass in different laboratories or factories around the world.

second: The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom.

metre: The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.

kilogram: The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.

Ampere: The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 meter apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 newton per meter of length.

Kelvin: The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.

mole:

The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12

When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles.

candela: The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian.

The definitions of base units has long history, and are evolving over time. Today several of the definitions are particularly problematic, among the most problematic are temperature and mass.

SI base units are closely linked to fundamental constants:

second:

metre: linked to c = speed of light in vacuum

kilogram: linked to h = Planck constant.

Ampere: linked to e = elementary charge (charge of an electron)

Kelvin: linked to k = Boltzmann constnt

mole: linked to N = Avogadro constant

candela:

Each fundamental constant Q is a product of a number {Q} and a base unit [Q]:

Q = {Q} x [Q],

for example Boltzmann’s constant is:
k = 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.

Thus we have two ways to define the SI system of SI base units:

we can fix the units [Q], and then measure the numerical values {Q} of fundamental constants in terms of these units (method valid today to define the SI system)

we can fix the numbers {Q} of fundamental constants, and then define the units [Q] thus that the fundamental constants have the numerical values {Q} (future method of defining the SI system)

Over the next few years the SI system of units will be switched from the today’s method (1.) where units are fixed and numerical values of fundamental constants are “variable”, i.e. determined experimentally, to the new method (2.) where the numerical values of the set of fundamental constants is fixed, and the units are defined such, that their definition results in the fixed numerical values of the set of fundamental constants. This switch to a new definition of the SI system requires international agreements, and decisions by international organizations, and this process is expected to be completed by 2018.

Today’s method (1.) above is problematic: The SI unit of temperature, Kelvin is defined as the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature at the triple point of water. The problem is that the triple point depends on many factors including pressure, and the precise composition of water, in terms of isotopes and impurities. In the current definition the water to be used is determined as “VSNOW” = Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water. Of course this is highly problematic, and the new method (2.) will not depend on VSNOW any longer.

In the new system (2.) the Kelvin will be defined as:

Kelvin is defined such, that the numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k is equal to exactly 1.380650 x 10-23 JK-1.

In order to link the soon to be fixed numerical value of Boltzmann’s constant to currently valid definitions of the Kelvin, and in particular to determine the precision and errors, it is necessary to measure the value of Boltzmann’s current in terms of today’s units as accurately as possible, and also to understand and estimate all errors in the measurement. Several measurements of Boltzmann’s constants are being performed in laboratories around the world, particularly at several European and US laboratories. Arguably today’s best measurement has been performed by Dr Michael de Podesta MBE CPhys MInstP, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory NPL in Teddington, UK, who has kindly discussed his measurements and today’s status of the work on the system of SI units and its redefinition with me, and has greatly assisted in the preparation of this article. Dr Podesta’s measurements of Boltzmann’s constant have been published in:
Michael de Podesta et al. “A low-uncertainty measurement of the Boltzmann constant”, Metrologia 50 (2013) 354-376.

Dr Podesta’s measurements are extremely sophisticated, needed many years of work, and cooperations with several other laboratories. Dr. Podesta and collaborators constructed a highly precise resonant cavity filled with Argon gas. Dr. Podesta measured both the microwave resonance modes of the cavity to determine the precise radius and geometry, and determined the speed of sound in the Argon gas from acoustic resonance modes. Dr Podesta performed exceptionally accurate measurements of the speed of sound in this cavity, which can be said to be the most accurate thermometer globally today. The speed of sound can be directly related to 3/2 k.T, the mean molecular kinetic energy of the Argon molecules. In these measurements, Dr. Podesta very carefully considered many different types of influences on his measurements, such as surface gas layers, shape of microwave and acoustic sources and sensors etc. He achieved a relative standard uncertainty of 0.71. 10-6, which means that his measurements of Boltzmann’s constant are estimated to be accurate to within better than on millionth. Dr. Podesta’s measurements directly influences the precision with which we measure temperature in the new system of units.

Over the last 10 years there is intense effort in Europe and the USA to build rebuild the SI unit system. In particular NIST (USA), NPL (UK), several French institutions and Italian institutions, as well as the German PTB (Physikalische Technische Bundesanstalt) are undertaking this effort. To my knowledge there is only very small or no contribution from Japan to this effort, which was surprising for me.

Gerhard Fasol: Ludwig Boltzmann – Energy, Entropy, Leadership

Ludwig Boltzmann’s greatest contribution to science is that he linked the macroscopic definition of Entropy which came from optimizing steam engines at the source of the first industrial revolution to the microscopic motion of atoms or molecules in gases. This monumental work is maybe Boltzmann’s most important creation but by far not the only one. He discovered many laws, and created many mathematical tools, for example Boltzmann’s Equations, which is today are used today as tools for numerical simulations of gas flow for the construction of jet engines and automobiles.

Ludwig Boltzmann was not only a monumental scientist, but also an exceptional leader and teacher and promoter of exceptional talent, and he promoted many women.

One of the women Ludwig Boltzmann promoted was Henriette von Aigentler, who was refused permission to unofficially audit lectures at Graz University. Ludwig Boltzmann advised and helped her to appeal this decision, in 1874, Henriette von Aigentler passed her exams as a high-school teacher, and on July 17, 1876, Ludwig Boltzmann married Henriette von Aigentler, my great-grand mother.

Another woman Ludwig Boltzmann promoted was his student Lise Meitner (Nov 1878 – Oct 27, 1968), who later was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission, work for which Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize. Lise Meitner was also the second woman to earn a Doctorate degree in Physics from the University of Vienna. Element 109, Meitnerium, is named after Lise Meitner.

The first President of Osaka University (1931-1934), Nagaoka Hantaro (1865 – 1950) was Ludwig Boltzmann’s pupil around 1892 – 1893 at Muenchen University.

Ludwig Boltzmann was connected in intense discussions with all major scientists of his time, he travelled extensively including three trips to the USA in 1899, 1904 and 1905.

Ludwig Boltzmann published his first scientific publication at the age of 21 years in 1865. He was appointed Full Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Graz in 1869 at the age of 25 years, later in 1887-1888 he was Rektor (President) of the University of Graz at the age of 43 years.

He spent periods of his professional work in Vienna, at Graz University (1869-1873 and 1876-1890), at Muenchen University (1890-1894). When working at Muenchen University, he discovered that he or his family would not receive any pension from his employment at Muenchen University, and therefore decided to return to Vienna University in 1894, where his pension was assured. During 1900-1902 he spent two years working in Leipzig, where he cooperated with the Nobel Prize winner Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald.

Ludwig Boltzmann did not shy away from forceful arguments to argue for his thoughts and conclusions, even if his conclusions were opposite to the views of established colleagues, or when he felt that philosophers intruded into the field of physics, i.e. used methods of philosophy to attempt solving questions which needed to be solved with physics measurements, e.g. to determine whether our space is curved or not. Later in his life he was therefore also appointed to a parallel Chair in Philosophy of Science, and Ludwig Boltzmann’s work in Philosophy of Science is also very fundamentally important.

I discovered the unpublished manuscripts of Boltzmann’s lectures on the Philosophy of Science, stimulated and encouraged by myself, and with painstaking work my mother transcribed these and other unpublished manuscripts, and prepared them for publication, to make these works accessible to the world, many years after Ludwig Boltzmann’s death.

Ludwig Boltzmann was a down to earth man. He rejected His Majesty, The Emperor of Austria’s offer of nobility, i.e. the privilege to be name Ludwig von Boltzmann instead of the commoner Ludwig Boltzmann. Ludwig Boltzmann said: “if our common name was good enough for my parents and ancestors, it will be good enough for my children and grand children…”

Summary: understanding Ludwig Boltzmann.

Boltzmann’s thoughts and ideas are a big part of our understanding of the world and the universe.

His mathematical tools are used every day by today’s engineers, bankers, IT people, physicists, chemists… and even may contribute to solve the world’s energy problems.

Ludwig Boltzmann stood up for his ideas and conclusions and did not give in to authority. He rejected authority for authority’s sake, and strongly pushed his convictions forward.

What can we learn from Ludwig Boltzmann?

empower young people, recognize and support talent early.

exceptional talent is not linear but exponential.

move around the world. Connect. Interact.

empower women.

don’t accept authority for authority’s sake.

science/physics/nature need to be treated with the methods of physics/science.

Kiyoshi Kurokawa: Quo vadis Japan? – Uncertain times.

Professor Kurokawa set the stage by describing the uncertain times, risks and unpredictabilities in which we live – while at the same time internet connects us all, all while the world’s population increased from about 1 billion people in 1750 to about 9 billion people today.

Major global risks in terms of impact and likelihood are (General Annual Conference 2013 of the World Economic Forum):

Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa chaired the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) by the National Diet of Japan, which was active from December 8, 2011 to July 5, 2012. While Parliamentary commissions to investigate accidents, problems and disasters are quite frequent in most Western democracies, this was the first time ever in the history of Constitutional Democratic Japan, that a Parliamentary investigation commission was constituted.

Examples of Parliamentary commissions in other western democracies are:

Three Mile Island, USA 1979

Space Shuttle Challenger, USA 1986

9.11 Terrorist Attack, USA 2001 and many many many more in USA

Oslo’s shooting incident, Norway 2011

Mad Cow Disease, UK 1997-, and several Parliamentary commissions every year in UK

The key result of the Parliamentary Commission is, that the Fukushima nuclear disaster was caused by “regulatory capture”, a phenomenon for which there are many examples all over the world and which is not specific to Japan. Regulatory capture was studied by Goerge J Stigler, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1982 for “for his seminal studies of industrial structures, functioning of markets and causes and effects of public regulation”.

Since the full report of the Independent Parliamentary Commission is long and complex to read, few people are likely to read the full reports and watch the videos of all sessions.

Therefore short summary videos the key results of the Independent Parliamentary Commission were prepared both in Japanese and in English.

4. What should have been done after the accident?

5. Could the damage be contained?

6. What are the issues with nuclear energy?

わかりやすいプロジェクト 国会事故調編

１。国会事故調ってなに？

２。事故は防げなかったの？

３。原発の中でなにが起こっていたの？

４。事故の後対応をどうしたらよかったの？

５。被害を小さくとどめられなかったの？

６。原発をめぐる社会の仕組みの課題ってなに？

We need leaders to be accountable, and we need to understand that “Groupthink” can lead to disasters.

We need the obligation to dissent instead of compliance.

The Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) was like a hole body CT scan of the Governance of Japan.

Richard Feynman when charing the Space Shuttle Accident investigation wrote in 1986: “for a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

For his work chairing the Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) Professor Kurokawa was selected as one of “100 Top Global Thinkers 2012” by Foreign Policy “for daring to tell a complacent country that groupthink can kill”.

Professor Kurokawa was awarded the AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award “for his courage in challenging some of the most ingrained conventions of Japanese governance and society.

New York Times, quotation of the day, September 4, 2013 Professor Kiyoshi Kurokawa said: “Japan is clearly living in denial, water keeps building up inside the plant, and debris keeps piling up outside of it. This is all just one big shell game aimed at pushing off the problem until the future”.

JVC KENWOOD Corporation was incorporated on October 1, 2008, and has 20,033 employees as of October 1, 2013.

Corporate vision: Creating excitement and peace of mind for the people of the world.

Total sales for fiscal year ending March 2013 was YEN 306.6 Billion (approx. US$ 3 Billion).

JVC KENWOOD today has four business divisions:

Car Electronics (CE): 33% of total sales

car navigation systems

car audio systems

CD/DVD drive mechanisms

optical pick-ups

Professional Systems (PS): 30%

digital land mobile radio

amateur radio

security cameras

professional video cameras

emergency broadcasting equipment

Optical & Audio (O&A): 22%

action camera

home audio systems

all-in one tower design audio systems

camcorder with wifi

4K projektor

headphones

Entertainment Software (SE): 13%

Victor Entertainment Group

Teichiku Entertainment

Issues of the electrical industry of Japan:

1970s: overwhelmed with vertical integration and self-sufficiency

1980s: appreciation of the yen (1985 Plaza Accord)

1990s: collapse of the Bubble (1991), relocation of production to Asia, three excesses:

debt

facility

employment

2000s: lost 20 years

Going forward, Japan has the option of growth under new business models, or continue to stagnate with matured industries.

While there is dramatic global market expansion in many business areas in the global electrical industry, e.g. for Lithium Ion Batteries, DVDs, Car navigation units, DRAM, Japan’s market shares are falling in most sectors. For example, Japanese market shares for LCD, DVD players, Lithium Ion batteries, or car navigation units have fallen from almost 100% global market share 5-10 years ago to 10%-20% today.

Restructuring mature industry can generate more economic benefit than innovating a new industry:

Restructuring in FY2003 achieved a V-shape recovery. Net income margin was improved from -8% in FY3/2002 to 2%-4% in recent years.

In mature markets, growth is achieved through M&A, reducing the number of players in the market. As the top player in the market, profitable growth improved:

Main four players in the car electronics after-market before Kenwood-JVC merger:

Pioneer

Kenwood

Sony

JVC

after the JVCKENWOOD merger, and restructure to minimize losses from the TV business:

JVCKENWOOD

…

…

JVC and KENWOOD formed a capital and business alliance in July 2007, followed by management integration in October 2008, and a full merger in October 2011. The business portfolio was restructured, and in particular big losses in the TV business were reduced. Fixed costs were reduced by 40% by selling off assets, reduction of production and sales sites, and 25% voluntary retirement.

This structural reform was completed in the FY3/2001, and led to another V-shaped recovery, and to profitable growth under the new medium term business plan.

The JVC-KENWOOD merger led to big jumps in market share in many markets, and thus to very much improved profitability.

How can Japan become competitive again?

Why did Japan’s mass production type electronics fail? Answer: Japanese management failed to deal with globalization and digitalization.

Other factors that contributed to Japan’s failure are vertical integration, technology leakage from exporting production facilities, insufficient added value compared to the high Japanese labor costs, and lack of money for investment, because Japanese companies largely relied on bank loans instead of equity.

Japan’s heavy electrical industry on the other hand is competitive – why?

1. Creative know-how in the heavy electrical industry is in human brains, therefore more difficult to leak to competitors under Japan’s employment circumstances.
2. huge capital investment is needed, and almost fully depreciated in Japan. Therefore the depreciation costs exceeds HR costs.

How can Japan become competitive again?

Japan needs to accelerate growth strategies in those areas, where Japan has competitive advantage, and where Japanese industries can differentiate themselves. Examples are industrial areas which depend on a long-term improvements and advanced technologies, and techniques of craftsmen, and in next generation technologies.

JVCKENWOOD takes action to innovate:

JVCKENWOOD invested in a venture capital fund: the WiL Fund I, LP to reinforce alliances with potential ventures in Japan and overseas

The mission of Tokyo Institute of Technology is to develop a new and vibrant society:

produce graduates with a broad understanding of science and technology with both the ability and the determination to take on leading roles in society

create and support innovative science and technology that will lead to sustainable social development

Detailed mission statements cover three areas:

education: produce masters graduates who will thrive globally, and doctorate graduates who will come world’s top researchers are leaders

contributions to society and international activities

research: produce globally recognized results. Reform the research and support systems, in particular multi-step support for young researchers.

Tokyo Institute of Technology aims to become a world class university with greater diversity in faculty and students by 2030.

Major educational reform plan (2013-…)

Reborn masters and doctoral courses

Reorganize departments, curriculum, courses

Change from year-based study to credit based study

Increase teaching in English, and numbers of foreign students

Align with world top class universities for student transfers and credit transfers

Enhance professional practice education for industry

A key challenge is that students primarily focus on earning credits to graduate, and lack a sense of mission to develop professional skills or to cooperate in our diverse global society. We need to change this type of behavior to create scientific leaders for the global arena.

We want to create a more flexible curriculum, that can be completed in a shorter time, so that students have more time for personal professional development and international exchange activities and communication skills.

The Board of Directors decided on three pillars for education reform on September 6, 2013:

Build education system to become one of the world’s top universities

Innovate learning

Promote ambitious internationalization

We will move to a new and more flexible curriculum system, where undergraduate schools and graduate schools are blended.

We are introducing a number of initiatives including active learning, a faculty mentor system where every faculty member mentors 5-10 students, increased numbers of lectures in English, invited top global researchers, provide facilities for foreign researchers, and broaden academic cooperation agreements and mutual accreditation of credits and degrees.